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tv   CNNI Simulcast  CNN  May 4, 2014 2:00am-3:01am PDT

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com gunshots rinking out across luhansk. far from the only hot spot in eastern ukraine. a uniform live reports for you coming up. also, global anger toward the nigerian government. find out what's being done right now to rescue hundreds of kidnapped schoolgirls. of course, we rolled out healthcare.gov. that could have gone better. >> well timed understatement there from the u.s. president garners big laughs at the white house correspondents dinner.
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we'll have more of mr. obama's self deprecating humor. hey there, everyone. i hope you're enjoying your sunday. a warm welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." clashing between government troops and pro-russia activists at this moment are threatening to take ukraine into a full-scale civil war. take a look at this. now, these scenes played out in the eastern city of donetsk. protesters there siding with russia, smashing their way into the ukrainian security building. being now played out in luhansk. gunfire there rang out in the streets. a local separaist leader declared a state of emergency.
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the formation of a southeast army for the region. and a ban on political parties. a pro-russian demonstrator there gave his reasons for joining the fight. >> translator: we are doing this because of what has happened in o december is a, slav yans k and kramator kramatorsk. we didn't bear that our brothers and sisters were killed. we're shedding tears for that. we're waiting for our enemies with guns in hand. >> let's kick off team coverage now. nick patton walsh is in slovyansk. matthew chance is in moscow. good to have you both with me. in slovyansk we saw a number of details this weekend. ukrainian helicopters being shut down. osc observering being released from there. what can you tell us what you've seen today happening. >> reporter: so far today it seems to have been relatively quiet around slovyansk. that comes after 24 very
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volatile hours. particularly on the outskirts of slovyansk where there was intense fun fire. we spoke to some local residents who've said they've been injured, too. claim they've been shot, in fact, by those ukrainian soldiers as they tried to move away from that position. ukrainian soldiers themselves said they'd come under coordinated, professional style attack from heavy weapons and even grenades which could, perhaps, explain the number of casualties and the fact they've clearly retreated from that position. that's slovyansk. extraordinarily tense. a lot of anger inside the city. they are increasingly encircled by ukrainian soldiers who seem to have orders to come in around the edges. but are holding those positions for you and facing a lot of local anger. separately, kramatorsk. the south of slovyansk. that has been a scene yesterday of what seemed to be pretty intense fun fire. the center of the city pockmarked with burned out buses, trams. on the outskirts one barricade
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it seems apcs drove towards it, shot at it and moved away across a field elsewhere into that city. three killed in total. social media suggests we're looking at six maybe according to activists inside that town from that particular day's violence. the key thing, errol, despite these efforts in kramatorsk and the violence and the claims from the interior minister, they control so many key buildings there. in that city yesterday we saw no evidence of the ukrainian army maintaining their position. just the same pro-russian militants at their same headquarters, city hall. >> considering you have these multiple spots of up rest in eastern ukraine, let's not forget o dessa in the south. that large fire a few days ago which killed more than 30 people. what is ukraine's plan if there is one for preventing any interference leading up to elections on the 25th? because it's hard to imagine these pro-russia supporters will just stand by idly.
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>> reporter: i'm not sure if there really is a plan. they've been quite clear they don't think they control the security forces here well enough. it seems the unrest moves at a fast pace than the government in kiev can keep up with. there are enough soldiers here to move in around slovyansk and kramatorsk. soldiers not wanting to move against local population and local population hostile towards them. in kramatorsk we did hear anti--pro-russian voices for the first time once the army had gone through. a mixed situation. in odessa the loss of life substantial. a remarkably horrifying event p p the largest loss of life, plus-40 people kimm killed. the that is certainly inflaming tensions and adding a lot of
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fuel to moscow's contention that perhaps there needs to be some sort of intervention here to keep further loss of life. prime minister yatsenyuk of c w ukraine saying troops are being flown into crimea in his words now being active. >> live for us in slav yaovyans ukraine. we cross to matthew chance for the russian perspective. i wonder what the week ahead will look like? more u.s. and german sanctions could hit moscow this week based on what u.s. president barack obama and german chancellor angela merkel have said. any indication russian officials are concerned about that? >> reporter: it was interesting that that press conference between angela merkel and barack obama, they appeared to lower the bar, the threshold for that third tier of sanctions to be implemented against russia. in the case of russia not just invading ukraine which was the previous position, but if russia
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continues to disrupt the situation ahead of the may 25th elections. yes, i think there is deep concern in russia about the possibility of those sanctions. whether it's deep enough, though, to prevent russia from taking action to intervene inside eastern ukraine and southern ukraine is still very much a moot point. certainly there's been outrage expressed here in russia from all sorts of quarters, from the president down at the deteriorating security situation inside eastern ukraine. the kremlin saying they've received thousands of requests from people in the south and east of the country for assistance. pleas for assistance, they say. within the past 24 hours the sta state duma, lower house of the russian parliament, say those responsible for the violence in the ukraine, they're talking about the deaths of pro-russian supporters there, of course, should be held accountable by war crimes tribunal. so very, very strong language, indeed.
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so so so to some ears sounds like the kremlin is preparing the ground to justify some kind of military intervention in eastern and southern ukraine. that hasn't happened yet. nick peyton walsh referred to the troops. that's certainly the case. no order has been given at this stage to undertake a military intervention, further military intervention, we should say, inside eastern ukraine. it doesn't mean it's not going to happen. the russians still apparently weighing their options, errol. >> certainly all the pieces are in place. this brings me to another interesting point. while this entire crisis has happened, the annexation of crimea, the deadly incidents in ukraine, putin has become more popular at home at russia. i'm wondering if that's still the case considering the previous sanction are meant to target his inner circle? at least possibly he's getting pressure from those close to him. how popular is putin with his inner circle and then with russians at large? >> reporter: well, i think it's
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difficult to gauge his popularity in terms of his inner circle. those kinds of polls simply aren't conducted. i suspect he's pretty unpopular with those who've been sanctioned privately. publicly they would never say that. polling of the russian people, they came out with figuring over the course of the past couple of days saying that putin's approval rating across the country, so during this period of intervention in ukraine, the annexation of crimea, the ongoing security situation in eastern ukraine, his approval rating has soared to 82%. so we're seeing extraordinarily high approval ratings for vladimir putin. he's by far the most popular politician in the country. i think that means that for the moment, at least, he's able to ride out the pain of any further sanctions. certainly the sanctions that have been implemented already are regarded as pinpricks on the russian economy. they may have had an impact. the imf says they have had an
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impact. further sanctions would have a greater impact, of course. but for the moment, putin himself is not feeling any personal political pain as a result of them, errol. >> if a poll does materialize about his popularity with his inner circle, we know matthew chance will have access. live from moscow, thank you, matthew. global outrage is spreading in response to the abduction of hundreds of nigerian schoolgirls abducted more than two weeks ago. now, these demonstrators rallied in london on saturday. hear what they're saying, see some of those banners. some of the banners say bring back our girls. the slogan of a worldwide campaign to call attention to this kidnapping. across the atlantic protesters gathered in washington. activists explained to cnn why these people are demanding the nigerian government do more. >> if this was 230 girls in the u.s., this problem would be over and those 230 white girls would
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be in their beds or at school by now. this is unbelievable that we're not paying attention and that we've been desensitized to color. and we all assume that it's in africa and they're just killing each other. that's such a false piece of information that's being propagated. let me just say that you ask president clinton what his greatest regret was, it was not going in and helpi ining se ini. rwanda, all of our greatest regrets were not acting. if we don't act now do we want to look back in history and think we made a mistake? you know what, everyone needs to do something now. there's tons of information on the facebook page on bring back our girls about actions you can take. there are protests marches being launched all over the world. we all need to participate. >> nigerian officials say 223 girls are still missing. that number could increase. isha sesay is in nigeria. she joins us on the poen.
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isha, what do we know about the exact number of girls missing and what the government is doing now to try and get them released? how difficult is this task ahead? >> reporter: hi there, errol. i think the issue surrounding the exact number of girls that were taken and the confusing surrounding it is one of the very troubling aspects of this story. the fact that that number has been revised several times since these girls were abducted in the middle of the night from their school in northeastern nigeria. just this past friday the number was revised again with a new figure emerging. a much higher figure. nigerian authorities now saying 206 girls were taken, adding at least 53 escaped, leaving 223 in the hands of their captors. before anyone thinks that's the end of the matter, we now have -- they have been transparent at least in saying that that number could well go up because they are still going through school records. and so that number of 223 still
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in the hands of their captors could be increased in the days ahead. as to what is being done to actually find these girls, to reunite them with their desperate families, your guess is as good as mine. there has for all intents and purposes been an information blackout here on the ground in nigeria. with hundreds of thousands of people here in this country demanding answers, demanding to know what is being done to find these girls and reunite them. and the government has not been forthcoming with information in that regard. since this story started, being on the phone, been reaching out, asking what are you doing? what does this operation look like? where are your troops? is there air support? are there troops on the ground? did you go into the forest which borders cameroon which we understand the girls were initially taken into? we have not been able to receive any answers. the last statement we got from
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the nigerian military essentially said, we will not be revealing any information about this operation. so do not contact us anymore. cnn will continue to ask the questions. because we know how desperate people are here on the ground for answers. errol? >> that's isha sesay in legos, nigeria, why this campaign to get the girls home safe to tlar ph -- their familys important. isha, thank you. i will move on to other stories we're covering for you now. in south korea authorities confirmed 16 more skashl casual raising the death toll of last month's ferry disaster the 244. more divers joined the rescue operation aiming to recover more bodies. no one has been found alive since the ship sank april 16th. 58 people still missing. south korean president park
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guen-hye visited. officials say they'll step up efforts in the search for the missing malaysian jet. we'll bring you details on that. plus, crossing continents. how a deadly virus is spreading worldwide. we'll bring you a report from dubai. stay with us. the average person will probably eat something or drink something that is acidic on a daily basis. those acids made over time wear the enamel. a lot of patients will not realize what's happening to the enamel. once it's gone, it's gone away for good. i recommend pronamel. it's designed specifically to help strengthen the teeth. pronamel will actually help to defend the enamel from the acids in our diet. if you know that there is something out there that can help, why not start today?
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welcome back, everyone. no one is claiming responsibility yet for a deadly attack in central mombasa saturday. kenyan officials say at least three were killed in a grenade explosion. the interior ministry says the grenade was thrown into a crowd at a bus terminal. this was the chaotic scene as emergency teams streamed in to help schools of people wounded. another explosion occurred near a baesh side hotel. there are conflicting reports about whether there were any injuries there. the middle east respiratory
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syndrome that's sickened hundreds of people in saudi arabia has now made its way to the u.s. american health officials say an indiana health care worker who recently returned from saudi arabia was diagnosed with the virus. the vast majority of cases have been found on the arabian peninsula. we asked some people just how concerned they are. >> reporter: afternoon in dubai. the picture of rest and relaxation. on the beaches here, there's seemingly little worry about the threat of a deadly virus. >> i see the beach like everyone. it's always this full. i'm not worried. because i don't see a lot of people, like, around me have it. so, yeah. i'm not too worried. >> reporter: but there is reason for concern. with the steep rise in cases of the virus known as mers cough. in the past month the number of worldwide cases has jumped by 30%. including nearly two dozen
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reported here. authorities say there's no need for panic but they are looking into why there's been a sudden surge. the virus comes from the same group at the common cold and attacks the respiratory system. symptoms can include fever, cough, authoritiness of breath. but authorities say it's still not clear exactly how it's spread. >> it could be the infection reached through the droplet. if you sneeze or you cough, you don't protect your sneeze and your cough, the droplet might lead to people. but it's not airborne. >> reporter: that's still a theory. >> yes. >> reporter: we don't know for sure? >> but we take the precaution. >> reporter: simple precautions like keeping your hands clean, prince. but the world health organization says the majority of new cases are among health care workers. >> it might be the infection control measure not applicable perfectly. that's why now we are stressing and impressing on the infection control be taken in all hospital, all clinics to protect the health care worker.
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>> reporter: so far there are more than 300 cases worldwide. including more than 100 deaths. mers was first detected in saudi arabia in 2012. other cases reported across the middle east, europe and as far as malaysia. all the cases are related to travel to the arabian peninsula and the overwhelming majority are in saudi arabia. with more than 100 new cases reported in the past month alone. in a country where millions of muslims converge every year for pilgrimages, the pressure is on authorities to curb the spread of the virus. they're working closely with the world health organization, but there is still concern among saudi residents. >> the principal of one of the biggest school in saudi arabia, when i read about it and i see some families about it, we need to take care. we need to take good care. >> reporter: take good care to prevent the spread of a virus. cnn, dubai. one big question in the
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states right now. what's in store for the clippers? >> whoever buys it, my gut, is not going to take that with them. >> the future of this nba team is hanging in the balance after donald sterling tarnished the brand. we'll bring you some expert analysis on what could happen to it, coming up after this break. [ molly ] this is one way to keep your underwear clean.
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from the racist remarks from the owner of the los angeles clippers basketball team. a ceo will now be appointed to oversee this nba franchise. the league will make appointment in conjunction with the team's management. last week you may remember own donald sterling was banned for life from the nba. at least the controversy apparently isn't getting the team down. the clippers won their playoff game saturday night and have advanced to the next round. the nba's other team owners are expected to vote at some point soon on whether to force sterling to sell his team. our deborah feyerick brings you details. >> reporter: it is arguably one of the most elite clubs in the world. 30 nba team owners. about half are self-made billionaires. one is a russian financeier. another head of the largest online retail mortgage lender. some have broadcast interests or made their fortune in technology. others have lots and lots of real estate.
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there's a handful of bankers. and at least one former basketball player. one industrial machine dealer. and one owner of a popular cruise line. all are expected to vote on the fate of disgraced clippers owner donald sterling. including sterling himself. mark edelman specializes in sports law and antitrust. >> it's primarily ego. it is fantasy basketball with billions of dollars at stake. >> reporter: the owners have not said where or when they'll vote. or whether they'll meet in person when the time comes. is it possible donald sterling could bring up issues on some of the other owners and say what make them more fit than me to run a team? >> as a matter of comparison he certainly could or could attempt to. as mark cuban had said, it's always a matter o f a slippery slope. >> reporter: miami heat owner micky arison was publicly crush affidavit he turned up court side in 2013 while passengers on one of his carnival cruises
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suffered days without food or facilities. in 2009 orlando magic owner rich devause was heavily criticized for anti-gay comments. while others have been accused of their own extramarital activities. still, bad behavior itself is not grounds for terminating an nba team owner. regardless of whether sterling fights back or not, if he is forced to sell, after taxes, he will still end up hundreds of millions of dollars richer from his original $12 million investment. as for the new owners, whoever it is, whether it's oprah or movie mogul david geffen or magic johnson, a name change may be the first order of business. >> the clippers are signified with losing and are signified with racism. whoever buys it, my gut, is not going to take that with them. they'll start anew. >> reporter: deborah feyerick, cnn, new york. the u.s. capitol is a highly polarized place. dysfunctional. thinking about it can make you
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quite depressed eddepressed. but the white house annual correspondents dinner provides welcome comic relief. you've got celebrities, politicians, members of the washington press corps all gathering saturday night for this annual fundraiser. and top billing went to president barack obama. watch this. >> i admit it. last year was rough. sheesh. at one point, things got so bad, the 47% called mitt romney to apologize. of course, we rolled out healthcare.gov. that could have gone better. in 2008, my slogan was, yes, we can. in 2013 my slogan was, control alt delete. michelle and i watched the olympics. we cannot believe what these
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folks do. death defying feats. haven't seen somebody pull a 180 that fast since rand paul disinvited that nevada rancher from this dinner. i am happy to be here. even though i am a little jet lagged from my trip to malaysia. the lengths we have to go to, to get cnn coverage these days. i think they're still searching for their table. the coke brothers bought a table here tonight. as usual, they used the shadowy, right wing organization as a front. hello, fox news. i'm just kidding. let's face it, fox. you'll miss me when i'm gone.
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it'll be harder to convince the american people that hillary was born in kenya. >> top marks to the u.s. president's speech writers there. on a more serious note, mr. obama closed his remarks by saying his thoughts were with journalists in places like syria, afghanistan and ukraine risking their lives to report the news. still to come for you here on "cnn newsroom," trapped in a blaze. dozens of people have died in odessa, ukraine, after a building caught fire there during clashes. we'll take a closer look at what happened. plus, how the u.s. secretary of state is working to end south sudan's ethnic violence. stay with us. ♪ ♪
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welcome once again to viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm errol bar net. you're in "cnn newsroom"." ukraine's military is pushing
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forward with its operation to subdue pro-russian separatists in the eastern part of the country. government troops clashed with activists in at least three cities saturday. moscow says it's receiving thousands of calling from people pleading for russia to intervene. in south korea authorities have confirmed 16 more deaths, raising the death toll of last month's ferry disaster to 244. no one has been found alive since the ship sank april 16th. 58 people are still missing. protesters in london and new york are joining the growing campaign calmed bring back our girls. they're calling on the nigerian government to do more to find hundreds of girls abducted more than two weeks ago. the mass kidnapping is blamed on islamist militant group boko haram. some of hollywood's biggest stars came out in washington for the annual white house correspondents dinner. saturday's event was a chance for politicians to laugh at themselves, poke fun at one another. and they raised scholarship money for aspiring journalists. the headliner was u.s. president barack obama.
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in ukraine criminal investigations are being launched into clashes which left dozens of people dead friday in odessa. the local prosecutor's office says 46 people were killed when a trade union building, to which pro-russian separatists had retreated, caught fire. cnn's phil black reports. >> reporter: the emotions are powerful here. fury, confusion, grief. these are the faces of people who are trying to understand how, why ukraine's ethnic and political divide suddenly flared here in odessa. taking so many lives. there's a lot of anger here. a lot of talk about fascists and right wing extremists. they believe what took place in this building is a deliberate about of murder. they're angry at police because they don't believe police did enough to stop it. it started on the streets. pro-russian and pro-ukrainian forces throwing what they could at each other. guns were used, too.
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the pro-russians were outnumbered and they retreated into the trade union building. witnesses say there were hundreds inside when it caught fire. it's unclear how the fire started, whether it's because of molotov cocktails thrown at the building or whether it's because they were mishandled by those seeking shelter here. the fire took on quickly. in the moments that followed dozens were killed. most overcome by smoke. but some trying desperately to escape. people were seen scrambling from windows. witnesses say others jumped. what were the police doing during all of this? >> police weren't doing anything. >> reporter: victoria, a russian speaker, is one of many here furious with the police. >> they were just looking. they didn't do anything. these people who were trying to escape from there, they didn't do anything. >> reporter: this woman also speaks russian and says she's too scared to show her face.
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she says she saw pro-ukrainians celebrating while the building burned. and people inside were dying. these are not humans, she says. we were killed only because we want to live and speak our own language. but once again in ukraine, there are two competing versions of the truth. ukrainian officials say russian citizens and former members of the country's deposed government were responsible for all this. odessa is a city with rich historic and cultural links to russia. there have been disturbances here in recent weeks. but nothing like this. >> i hate these people who did this. these are citizens of odessa. these radicals, i don't know. it's awful. >> reporter: this isn't like ukraine's east.
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these people are a long way from the russian border. but the flames of political and cultural hatred now burn strongly here as well. phil black, cnn, odessa, southern ukraine. it's been nearly two months since malaysia airlines flight 370 disappeared, and not a single trace of the plane has been found. but this hasn't stopped the search and officials say that the operation will be entering a new phase. richard quest has details. >> reporter: after all the urgency of getting to hear the pings within that 30-day limit and then having the bluefin underground to see what it could see in this limited area, the surge is now moving into what the australian prime minister called last week the new phase. it's going to be a lot longer. between eight months and a year, according to officials in malaysia. it's going to require different types of assets. not maybe just one autonomous
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underwater vehicle, but maybe some remotely operated ones, too. because they are widening the scope from a narrow ten kilometer radius around one of the pings. they're going to start looking at several other areas as well. and to make all this happen, the australians, the chinese and the malaysians are all to meet in the australian capital cambria early next week. they'll be putting in place the various rules and contracts. the cost sharing. they'll be coming to understandings about how this search will move forward. and as if to prove that it is moving into another phase, the families of the passengers onboard flight mh370, they've been told that the airline is closing the various assistance centers around the world and the hotels. and they are being told to go home to the comfort of their home where information will be given and where advanced payments are now being made by
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way of compensation. a new phase, indeed, is beginning in the hunt for the answers to the mystery of mh370. this new phase will be neither quick, nor easy. >> all right. richard quest there. we cross now to india. a country of a billion people. many of them sweltering under a strong heat wave right now. our meteorologist sam moore is in the world weather center. i understand you found interesting ways they found to beat this heat. >> that is right. you have to find novel ways to keep your cool when the heat is on. this is premonsoonal. the big heat wave that sets up the monsoon that brings in their seasonal rainfall during the summer. so across india and pakistan, look at some of these numbers. well above average. in the low 40s for yesterday's high temperatures. and more heat on the way. so they're trying to keep their cool here at the zoo by hosing off the animals.
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i'm sure this beautiful lion, look at that mane, i'm sure it's hot, though, wearing that fur coat. keeping cool with a nice hosing down there. here, this is an interesting new exhibit or i should say park in ahmadabad. you can go inside and get in the snow. they've got sleds and toboggans. you can play in the snow and make snow men. that's an interesting way to keep the heat, even though it's in the low 40s, outside. and the humidity on the rise here in the south as we start to get a little bit of moisture in here and we start to see that monsoon set up. typically we see it move towards sri lanka around the middle of may. by the time we get on into june we're seeing it move up across southern india. up around mumbai towards the beginning of june. june 10th we should see that monsoonal circulation set up across the southern half of india. by the time we get to the beginning of july, pretty much
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the entire continent is dominated by that monsoonal flow and thunderstorms and heavy rains that move in. in the meantime, the heat is on. so the river levels here starting to drop. so the fishermen having to work a little harder as they cast their nets trying to bring in dinner here and also to make a living here on the rivers of india. and right now it looks like the forecast is going to be a little on the low side in terms of rainfall. typically the average for the monsoon is 89 centimeters. that, of course, is india-wide. that encompasses a lot of geography here. right now, errol, we're expecting to see a little less activity as far as the monsoon is concerned. when it does move in it'll bring relief to the heat for sure. >> indeed. for the meantime, you've got some of those snowmen. >> yeah. >> thanks, sam. an oscar winning actor and humanitarian, forest whitaker, has found hope in his work as
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special envoy to south sudan. hear from him after the break and see how he's helping the war torn region, next. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. because you can't beat zero heartburn. woo hoo! [ male announcer ] prilosec otc is the number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. [dog] larrwanna play?arry?cine for 8 straight years. [announcer] a healthy dog is a playful dog. [dog] let's do this larry! [announcer] help him keep those muscles while he loses a few pounds with beneful healthy weight. made with wholesome rice,real chicken,soy, even accents of vitamin rich veggies. it's calorie smart and tastes so good. beneful healthy weight from purina.
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tv and internet together like never before. welcome back. u.s. secretary of state john kerry repeats his call for south sudan peace talks. during a policy speech saturday in the ethiopian capital secretary kerry pressed the president and his ousted former vice president to meet for direct talks. south sudan declared its independence from sudan back in july 2011. but last december there was a violent split between supporters of south sudan's president and supporters of the man he ousted from the post of vice president. it's estimated that the fighting in south sudan has forced 1 million people from their homes. the humanitarian disaster won't ease until the bloodshed stops. ending that fighting was the goal of friday's visit to juba
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by u.s. secretary of state. cnn's john mann has more. >> reporter: a push for peace in south sudan. u.s. secretary of state john kerry landed in juba friday, seeking a cease-fire in the country's brutal four month old civil war. he met with south sudan's president for what he called a candid discussion. >> i made it clear to him that he needs to do everything in his power to end the violence. >> reporter: kerry says he's now agreed to direct talks with his political rival. since december, government forces loyal to the president have been battling rebels backing former vice president mashar. mashar also agreed to talks. he met with u.n. officials earlier this week. >> what is critical is that the -- have to be ceased. and that both leaders come together so that the people of this country, south sudan, not be betrayed. >> reporter: since fighting broke out, thousands have been
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killed. both sides have been accused of committing atrocities like this massacre just a few weeks ago. bodies left along the road near the town of bentu. more than 1 million people have been forced from their homes. tens of thousands have taken shelter in overcrowded u.n. camps. the country is on the brink of famine. >> the unspeakable human costs that we have seen over the course of the last months and which could even grow if they fail to sit down, are unacceptable to the global community. >> reporter: while the u.s. was instrumental in helping south sudan gain its independence in 2011, kerry's visit is a clear sign of washington's growing unease over how the country has collapsed in such a short period of time. jonathan mann, cnn. >> the status of the talks may still be in doubt. but the flight of south sudan's people is painfully clear. we're going to show you an interesting conversation now.
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because earlier john mann spoke with forest whitaker and anthony melakow. found >> you are involved in the humanitarian effort at the grass roots. you're going there next month. tell us about the work you're doing there and what you expect to find. >> sure. we've been there since december of 2012, actually. unesco asked me to go in with my program for my foundation. we've been working on building peace builders and community builders inside south sudan. we actually were located in -- we had 22 youths that came in. we were able to train. those youths went back to the communities with their action plans and continued support of our foundation on a daily basis. and they've actually activated themselves during this process, during this conflict. >> let me ask you plainly. 1 million people have been
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displaced. there's talk potentially of genocide if u.n. peace keepers don't go there. it's a tiny young country in crisis and you're working with 22 people. does it seem like a drop in the bucket? why do you direct your attention there? >> okay. so we're about to start a new program in eastern -- we're training trainers. we train trainers that go back into their area. those villages they go to, they train others. they create a project for the entire community. take, for instance, in eastern equatoria it will probably affect 400,000 people. we start out with starting with our trainers. we move into different communities, train the trainers and put in computer centers. it's a process that includes a lot of different intervengs including vocational owork, building roads, bringing people together that we finance certain processes and stuff like that. >> it's clearly for the long term, though. anthony, unite for good helps fund work like this in a number
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of places. clearly the secretary of state is talking about peace talks next week. they're working on a very short, short time scale. you're looking at, i guess, the longer term with efforts like these? >> absolutely. unite for good movement is social movement to engage in multiple activities to promote peace, promote tolerance, promote positivity through uniting organizations, individuals, media, businesses together to really engage into peace initiatives. and our relationship is to really engage into long term relationship. >> now, you both made reference to it. this is the whitaker peace and development initiative. that's what the acronym stands for. i get back to those 22, i guess, young men and women. >> well, it differs depending on where it is. we take them from each coty. two from each county. we train those individuals. they act as a core group that
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goes back and trains with our staff the actual community itself. >> in a place like south sudan, decades of war before even south sudan could become independent from sudan itself. now months of war for a tiny country that's really -- it's being born crippled. do you feel like you're making a difference when you do that kind of work? >> i know that we're making a difference. we look at ourselves in jonly state, where the conflict is currently going on. those three unity and upper nile. those youths trained activated when the process came on. many went to local leaders. were moving people to different areas to get them to safety. were communicating with each other to tell them which roads to go down. here's the thing. this is like tribes working with each other in order to be able to move each other to safety and find common ground. as i say, it's the beginning of a training system of moving out. we currently in those states are going to be working more in the idp camps in juba.
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we'll be going in with our sports program and our cinema through peace program and town hall meetings we're going to be doing. the program has a lot of different facets. >> you're using a lot of acronyms. idp caps, internally displaced persons camps. ref jus moved by the conflict. >> 76,000 now in the south sudan. >> does it break your heart when you go there? >> well, you can't help but be affected. i'm affected when i get news from them and they're talking to me. i got an e-mail earlier today from one of my workers. my staff had to leave and come back in. some of the kids have been injured. you can't help but be affected. but you have to find hope. they gave me hope because they activated themselves and took control of a situation the best ways that they could, given the circumstances. we are working within those circumstances to help bring certain things there. certainly the peace talks are -- what's going on right now, i'm very excited that the president
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and former vice president are going to have this discussion that will hopefully end the conflict that's going on in the country. because a lot of lives, 10,000 people have died. you know? we have to look to that. that's something we all have to think about. they're leaving the country. there are 86,000 of them have left the country, you know. i know that personally because my staff left. some went to nairobi. some went to uganda. now they all came back. they've been back for months now when they went into this current advance work. >> forest whitaker, anthony, of course, we wish you the best with your efforts. thanks very much. >> an insightful conversation there. you are watching "cnn newsroom." it was an emotional day at churchill downs. >> so much blood, sweat and tears. our savings. our retirement into this horse. >> we'll hear more of what the co-owner of california chrome had to say right after the thoroughbred won the kentucky derby. plus, high flying spiderman launches hollywood's summer season. how the film m's advertisers are
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using their spidy sense to pack viewers into theaters. stay with us here on cnn.
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horse racing fans around the world tuned in for an event saturday called the fastest two minute of sport, the kentucky derby. the winner o f this year's two kilometer run was a colt from california. host of cnn's winning post has details. >> reporter: on this glorious
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day at churchill downs it was california chrome. his mexican jockey victor espinosa bounced him out of post position six and settled him beautifully behind the leaders. the horse cruised throughout the race. coming into the straight he pressed the accelerator and put lengths on the rest of the field. commanding curve did close down a little for second. it was a really dominant victory. it was the second win in the race for jockey victor espinosa having won it in 2002 on war emblem. for the trainer, art sherman, he said he wasn't going to bring a horse to the kentucky derby until he had a horse he knew could win it. he was true to his word. >> to see this dream come true that we have put so much blood, sweat and tears. our savings, our retirement into this horse. and see this horse win the kentucky derby, i -- i have no words. >> i'm just the same old art sherman, you know. except i won the kentucky derby.
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>> reporter: at 77 years old, art sherman is the oldest person ever to have trained a kentucky derby winner. as for the owners, well, they turned down multimillion dollar offers for this horse. today, they've won $1.4 million. but winning the kentucky derby is priceless. and in two weeks' time, unless anything goes wrong this horse will be a hot favorite for the preakness. cnn, louisville, kentucky. the amazing spider man 2 is kicking off hollied with's blockbuster season. nischelle turner explains how the studio behind it is trying to grab moviegoers from the web of advertising. >> since i was 3 years old i wanted to be spiderman. >> i love summer movies. >> reporter: forget memorial day. in hollywood, summer starts now. launching this season, a movie that seems to have blockbuster written all over it. >> he's my favorite superhero. i get to pretend to be here. >> reporter: andrew garfield and
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his amazing "spider man 2" co-stars are in publicity overdrive. >> i did letterman. "the view." "gma." i'm doing this. >> reporter: it's the crucial first weekend of may. >> at the end of the day, it's a business. >> reporter: and the pressure is on to own the summer. with an estimated $250 million budget, the producers need this sequel to open big. it debuts in more than 4,300 theaters nationwide. one of the widest releases ever. an estimated $150 million more went into marketing. >> the marketing costs can exceed the production costs. more butts in t seats means more money. >> reporter: but the business of selling blockbusters is evolving. along with changing audiences. the number of frequent moviegoers ages 17 to 24 plummeted 17% in 2013. >> something is wrong with the prime movie going demographic. >> reporter: david weitzner ran the marketing campaigns for
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"star wars" and "e.t.." he says today selling a movie like "the amazing spiderman 2" looks much different. >> we didn't spend what is being spent today. we used newspaper a great deal. because people still read newspapers back then. they don't now. >> reporter: instead, they're looking at their online devices. >> the biggest difference between the old model and today's play book is social networking. that has changed the rules for everyone. every product. specially the movies. >> i do some web design. >> reporter: surrounding "the amazing spiderman 2," viral videos. games and apps. hashtags and social media buzz. >> social media were bombarding each other with our faces, selfies. >> studios, like most marketers, have been very focused on social. how do i reach them in the right kind of environments? engage with them and allow them to be my megaphone? >> reporter: interactive features on the small screen paired with massive
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merchandising on the street surround potential viewers. making opening weekend feel like a can't-miss event. >> we went around the world. and we were trying to inspire people with spiderman. >> reporter: yet in an evolving entertainment landscape with diminishing sales at the box office, the movie marketing play book may still change entirely to win viewers back to the big screen. >> you have to just inspire people in this world of so many competing technologies to get out of their chair, drive to the movie theater and have a great experience watching that big screen with a group of other people. >> initial >>. >> reporter: nischelle turner, cnn, hollywood. >> hope you get a chance to see a movie this weekend. thanks for joining us in "cnn newsroom." i'm errol barnett. for those watching in the world, i'll be back with headlines. for those of you in the u.s., "new day" is next.
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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com after a bloody weekend battle the body count soars in ukraine. now the blame game and the pleas for the u.s. to intervene. triumph for the clippers after, oh, you know, a trying week in the spotlight. two big wins for this team this morning one week after the donald sterling saga stole their thunder. and washington goes hollywood, well, they tried. they got close. the stars came out, of course, and so did the jokes. >> the house republicans actually give john boehner a harder time than they give